Bittman Speaks Out Against Current Food System

The popular columnist blasts the US’ national obsession with unhealthy food.

For his first Opinionator column of 2013 in The New York Times, Mark Bittman has spoken out against the US’ current, broken food system. He notes, a few weeks after the tragic shooting in Sandy Hook, CT, that while gun violence kills tens of thousands of people per year in the US, heart disease takes the lives of millions annually. Bittman calls for specific changes (including better access to healthy foods for the nation’s poor, better treatment of animals, and better attention to workers’ rights), instead of simply calling for a general concept of doing “better.” He also comments that the food movement is just starting to get national attention—and the long process of overhauling our system shouldn’t daunt advocates.

Want more of today’s best plant-based news, recipes, and lifestyle?
Get our award-winning magazine!